Jasper Townsite: Walking down memory lane

What's up Peeps!

In the last post, I mentioned a critically fast evolving situation with 2 fires encroaching on populated areas in the town Jasper that triggered an evacuation of 10,000 people on short order at around 11 pm with 5 hours to evacuate that quickly escaladed to you have 20 minutes to get out. Just go now. Just get out town officials said Grab your children and leave now. After the town got evacuated, crews went to locate those in the campgrounds and backcountry where internet is no more an your eyes and surrounding awareness are your only means of staying safe. An Additional 15,000 is estimated to have been evacuated to a total of an estimated 25,000 people. Luckily, I'm watching safely from the sidelines in Edmonton but that was the reality for many, both permanent and seasonal residents along with all the tourists they were accommodating during the peak of yearly tourist from all over Canada and around the world. What went down and what's to come?

This view is one of the first one that will be altered for the rest of my life. This is the small town of Jasper from the top structure at Whistler's Mount, at the gondola/cable car arrival platform. There is an additional climb to get to the real summit but it's a bit dangerous, so be careful but popular nonetheless to see the hidden valley behind looking towards Mount Robson. This was taken in 2016, at the beginning of the visual effects of the infestation. It didn't look too bad back then. If you really want to look, zoom in in the photo and look for the orange patches. Now it's all black or orange trees that dominate over the live ones. One side of the "boomerang" shaped city is completely burned down.

With only one way out of 3 left due to 2 out of control wildfires burning towards the small town nestled IN THE MIDDLE OF A HALF DEAD 200 YEAR OLD PINE FOREST. There is so much going on here, it might be a long post exploring the complexities along with it's history. Some of you have heard by now that over 30% of the town was lost to fire, officials estimate that roughly 370 buildings out of roughly 1150 are now deemed destroyed or unsafe in the future, the extent of the real damage is still a mystery to most as only essential fire crews are allowed in the park still doing their best efforts to minimize any further damage and secure critical infrastructure like hospitals, schools and other essentials. The situation is stable in town but it's not over, the cooling temperatures and light rain is helping tame the fire for now. With expected rise and dry conditions anticipated in the next few days could change that in an instant.

Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society (Tete-Jaune, a former explorer with an Important role in surveying, mapping and connecting the land between British-Columbia and Alberta via Jasper). This small museum is packed to the brim with the local history in artifacts and images going from the early habits of the First Indigenous People, the utility development of a strategic important access point for a unified Canada brought forward by European explorers and settlers all the way to what we enjoy today as a Heritage.

I decided to go thru old photos, see what I had of the town and other additional views from the top that was forever altered, at least for the rest of our human life at this point and time. It will grow back but I wont be alive to see it in it's former glory and 200 year old trees. While we are walking down memory lane, I will point out some of the gradual changes related to the pine beetle infestation that is the real reason this probably happened. The photos may have been shared in my ladybug account, some not...It's a mix from 2016 until 2022 perhaps. A few nature pictures but it will be mostly history, some from the local railway museum and the Pioneers that led to the UNESCO world heritage status it now observes. Because I share a photo of a building, doesn't mean it's burned down, just the history, some is written, some is visual and what burns down gets lost forever. This event re-enforces the need to digitally record in immortal form. TAKING PHOTOS and taking the time to capture history along with the landscape. We are all visual creatures.

This might be a good post for "Train In The Mountains" enthusiast like myself since I have a bit of a fetish for it and Jasper's history centers around railways, not just to transport goods, but also what made the early tourism endeavors such a success that grew into one of the worlds landmarks to visit for millions. Expect a few train photos.

Now, that was just a not as brief as I expected overview of what will be found in this post or series of posts, never know how these things turn out until you put the rubber on the pavement especially on a place like this and analyzing the dynamic catastrophe well all knew would be inevitable...Just not for the right reasons. Now back to the unfolding of events, I will share a few videos from the situation, most of them from the local news cast that contains much of the stray footage that was able to be captured by escaping residents and crews assisting and their stories to give you a few brief visuals that would clearly be unsafe for me to get you myself.

Lets get back to the night where everyone was evacuated, on the first day of mandatory evacuation order, it was initially criticized by various pundits as an over reaction since the fire was estimated to be 4 days away from the official townsite . Evacuees were instructed to take the only safe road left towards the smaller near-by town of Valemount, B-C, Just on the other side to be re-routed to Calgary via Kamloops to get back into Alberta, Including Edmonton. In a slow moving convoy of escapees and one road, the now short drives turned into several hours of bumper to bumper hoping for the best. Now, the small B-C town accommodated as many as they could with what they had but they had to send most to Kamloops, that also quickly became oversaturated, sent the overflow to Calgary evacuation center. Upon arrival, many arrived to locked doors as they decided to close it for "lack of evacuees coming in" leaving them stranded.

Spirit Island, Maligne Lake. The hotel that burned below is not the historical lodges on the premises but a different historical hotel that landmarked the townsite for many decades. It was named in honor of this feature.

First of all... what? They have to drive 14 hours on a good day to get there from Jasper via Valemount. It's been now re-opened after much criticism, but what a blunder. As everyone else is setting up theirs, Calgary, the closest major city locks it's doors. Strange thought process to say the least. Nonetheless, everyone escaped safely from the "fire zone" and safe from harm, that's still half the battle. Wind conditions during the day were mild and stable allowing the crews to set up various efforts to "cut-off" the fire and prevent it from spreading.

As I was writing the last post, the winds picked up to 100km/h and multiple crews and emergency personnel had to move out of Jasper as it became suddenly unsafe with the shifting winds that was so chaotic that it merged the two fires threatening the town limits into one super-monster of a fire with 100 meter tall flame (300-400ft) that quickly moved 5km in 30 minutes and engulfed the city over night in an impossible to battle blaze, the only solution is let it do it's thing and move back to safety towards Hinton as even the air quality was unbreathable and only those with breathing apparatus able to remain in the park's boundaries and attempt to "hold the line" and protect the critical infrastructure for the small town.

When I went to sleep, that was the situation, the word from those on the ground and whatever buildings everyone else could make out in the blaze, it was established that a gas station and a hotel was already lost with an important historical hotel in trouble, it was just the beginning and everyone knew this was going to be bad and the worst case scenario we all saw coming for years, trying to fight for it, watching it like a real slow moving train wreck waiting to happen. Well that moment has happened. The fire in the city is under control but it's still raging in the wilderness, something as simple as a shift in winds to create a repeat scenario.

A few photos of a museum display of Jasper Park Lodge history from the Railway Museum. It's not it's first encounter with fire. The main lodge was saved with minimal damage but some adjacent cabins and suites may have succumbed.

Twice lucky, the damage will be easily replaceable keeping it's main historical components and the stories build up with time displayed on the walls and decorations. As I said earlier in the post, this reminded me on how much I tend to ignore the history of the different buildings as I get distracted by the amazing landscape that brought them here. For some reason, I don't even have pictures of it and been inside it's walls once for a short time. It was nice but to nice for a person like me, I'm too simple. I don't know about their standards, I just felt that way I suppose, I didn't belong so I left before they decided for me.

In my blog, I seem to stay at some really nice places at steep discounts from time to time, that look expensive, yes some are but I stay in midweek last minute specials when they are just looking to at least have some warm bodies in there and break even. This isn't that type of place. It's a Fairmont property, I already know I'll never be able to afford anything but a nice meal there. Maybe the right to look at it for free...from the outside. They don't let stray's hang around too long unless you have a room there. I get it tho. Nice place just the same and it would have been a shame to loose such an impressive lodge.

Obviously, the evacuation didn't come early, it came right on time. The initial thought of as over-reaction by pundits proved to be the right one, the proactive one. No lives were lost, minimal injuries despite the horrific events. What are the chances! From my analysis as a couch potato that likes to frequently travel there, watching it unfold via different press conference, not really knowing what to make of this, still stunned by what happened. It was like watching the Fort MacMurray or Slave Lake fire all over again. It's kind of a standard around here with warm dry summer and the minimal rainfalls we get year round keeps us vulnerable.

The railroad that connected the west of Canada and accommodated the tourism we see today, this is right before coming into the townsite while exiting Maligne Lake Road, Elk like to concentrate there as well. Much of the goods that travel between Alberta and B-C pass thru here, part of critical infrastructure for the proper transportation of goods to and from Edmonton, also a historically important settler point and access to both the North of Canada and the Rockies pass into B-C.

From the railway museum stated above.

Yes indeed but I also believe that as humans, we can still do a few things to help ourselves in certain specific situations. Jasper is one of them. For almost a decade, various locals and researchers have been warning about the worsening conditions of the forest due to the fast growing pine beetle infestation ravaging thru B-C that eventually moved into Jasper as it progressed inland. As you saw in the first picture in this post from the top of the mountain view, that was 2016. The infection was minimal in Jasper but due to past behavior that gave us an idea what to expect as citizens was clear.

Just because I had to find ANY EXCUSE to fit in some gorgeous Maligne Lake I decided to use this to display an example of how fast the infestation took over the area. The top picture is also from 2016, as you can see, the trees are mostly lush and green with a few visible orange patches.

Although a front view instead of side, most can probably point out where the first picture was taken from near the boathouse, taken in 2020? 4 years later. It's a pine forest and they remain green all year, the orange is stickily damage and dry dead trees from the infection. That's not even the worse state yet. There has been a few wildfires in the region further along the lake away from tourism and historical structures but the fire dangers are real here too and even more complicated to evacuate large groups of people off a narrow mountain road, much like the escape via Mount Robson would have been, why it went so slow, you really can't rush driving in these types of places.

Unless significant efforts were made, the forest would be lost to the pest and become an additional fire danger to an already vulnerable vastly forested territory where extinguishing a fire isn't always easily accessible to control. National Parks are under Federal Government's stewardship not under the care of Albertans or it's governments. The parks decided to let nature be nature because that's the whole point of a National Park and an opportunity to study and that's the standard that was set for our gem. Outside provincially managed parks opted with trying to repel the infection by cutting down and incinerating infected trees at first signs if possible. As it worked? Been a bit since I have personally looked into it but I grill park staff both federal and provincial. It's my duty as a citizen to know what's going on and speak up for the safety of both citizens and the land.

Back in the town of Jasper, this is the railyard, an important connection between British-Columbia and Alberta. Looks beautiful at first glance but what is it's hidden secret to the untrained eye? If you zoom in on the photo, notice the black trees among the green on the mountain, the last stage of the infestation, a completely dry tree full of dry black fungus. What you really see is a mountain full of giant match sticks decorated with additional dry kindling like a naturally decorated Christmas tree from hell just waiting to be gifted with a flame encounter from a potential spark from metal on metal contact that is know to be a possibility with railroads and trains, because Lyton B-C has taught us nothing...It was the heat and global warming tho...What do you think? Proof in in the pudding? Any firemen in the house? Is this a huge fire hazard and disaster waiting to happen? Then how can it be ignored? Do train cars carry fuels and flamables? Well yes they do! OMG 😳

This may be part of the burn area. In reality, the entire town is surrounded by a forest in the same state. That's why Jasper burned the way it did. A dry dead 200 year old towering forest that the Government and Park Canada wanted to leave there for the sake of research and minimizing human interference in sites that see millions of visitors per year despite many locals and other organizations trying to raise awareness on the hazard. The only saving grace was the Mayors decision to evacuate early despite criticism, including from the park in a press conference. On the Park's Canada website, the fire was advertised as mostly extinguished. Anyone there with a visual knew otherwise and thankfully left for safer ground before the catastrophe hit.

Was the government officially aware? Yes, without really looking, I found a short parliament session video that resurfaced from 2017 or so after observing the challenges the province of British-Columbia and it's potential cause for the recent severity increase in the already challenging terrain to an escaladed level creating more aggressive wild fire seasons. They are quick to regurgitate their global warming bla bla blas, but this is also a big problem, not just driving our cars to work. This is the reason for more frequent and aggressive out of control fires of the last few years. The dead ravaged forest that keeps getting ignored one disaster after the next. But we know what the problem is, why aren't we fixing it?

https://x.com/therealkeean/status/1816563808141480007?s=49&t=mJZGQig9udp_N2Fr6I4WvA&fbclid=IwY2xjawERXPJleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHUeWIxE9fnOxlmjXovc_Anetv3zkLolIcdqgv-95LKyCUKe7VmeadQYANA_aem_j3-DJQfaRwvh9jx5c8DoNQ

Would it have been more responsible to do like provincially managed forest and incinerating contaminated areas as soon as possible before the larvae hatch and spread. Does anybody with access to both type of records could research that someday? Make a comparison? Since we are putting many lives at risk including a pristine landscape in the name of research. Now I have always experienced much care from those representing Park's Canada within the park. Where do these oversights on dangers come from? Is it some office across the country in Ottawa? Some over paid fat cat that makes decisions on a place they never analyzed for themselves, with their own eyes? Surely anybody can see the fire hazard and the problems a mass evacuation would cause in a limited access mountain pass at first glance.

https://x.com/brianlilley/status/1816564230805684274?s=49&t=mJZGQig9udp_N2Fr6I4WvA&fbclid=IwY2xjawERYYtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQJPESBklCH7Q-i-k86xeQbb0NQc_27j5ydvLRMCN2tTVH0ZVzuExKDLxg_aem_-FIMyMBjy15LWGFAIHU5LQ

The infection not only plagues the townsite and the entire Maligne region, it spans all the way across the city to the other side of the park having become as deadly of a tree plague in the Athabasca and Sunwapta Fall region as well. I have seen the gradual changes happen fast there too. Another lost landscape to inaction towards the state of the forest and under heighten fire threat. I have noticed the infection having moved as far as Lake Louise into Banff National Park, not bad yet but I saw some orange patches forming. They will likely let that go dead too and let it infect the rest of Banff.

Maligne Lake road alongside Medicine Lake, a large deep lake the roads wraps around with a mountain on the other side on a narrow winding path. The evacuation route towards Valemount where evacuees had to take to escape is of a similar nature around large lakes. Just picture it, 25,000 people escaping on a road similar to this all at once to avoid getting trapped in a burning dried out tinderbox of a forest. That's why most just left without questioning it, they knew. Pray for peace but ready for battle.

They could do something to slow the progression but they wont...just watch. We'll revisit this blog in a really sad I told you so in about a decade because that's how long it took to destroy Jasper and turn it's precious town into a 400 foot inferno...no lets blame it on the heat and tax everyone more so superstore and other high profile friends can get new environmentally friendly fridges and other kickbacks. I thought the carbon tax was to help us upgrade our surroundings with the changes and making efforts to do better at the prevention of things?

This may have burned in the area too

Is this a Government trend overall that's been unfolding for much longer or only under Trudeau's Liberal government? I haven't been keeping track long enough to tell since it took about 8 years for it to spread but given the state of British-Columbia's forest that happened sooner, it may be a government trend overall grossly aggravated by the latest Canadian Liberal Administration in Ottawa. Jasper is far from the first mis-managed forest. Banff and animal management as been sub-par especially around the wolf population and campgrounds. Encouraging more tourism then nature can even handle. I'm serious when I say this about Banff.

An old painting part of the display at the museum, I didn't get the name of the painter, some of the artifacts are donated anonymously or not from the original owner or painter. Just an important part of history in color. I wonder if it's an early representation of the same area just a little further down the field as the elk photo (by the air strip), what do you think? The tall tree patch was there but it's been eaten by the beetles so I left them out.

It's not about conservation at all and most Alberta residents would agree that it's now damaging the land and resources to have so many at once each year. All for revenue. Revenue that most of it goes to a Park's Canada slush fund to be redistributed across other important landmark parks across Canada. Now I'm all for sharing but they have treated our prized Albertan landscape like a cash cow to it's detriment in such a way that many residents don't agree with and continue to do so. I'm all for tourism and the such, sharing revenue and help poorer areas have access and preservation of local history but within reason, it's now way passed that point. Treating it like a cash cow, we will have no more pristine land to display as proudly as we do.

"Two Brothers" Totem pole proudly displayed in downtown Jasper by the train station, I believe this is located in the part of town that survived.

The cost of being a UNESCO Heritage site managed by a federal entity. Unsafe living conditions and concerns unheard until tragedy strikes. Why? When these instances happen and mis-management and poor land stewardship, why can't provinces and it's citizens demand their land back? Under provincial management? One who understands the local needs and consistently viewing it's changes in real time and able to intervene early, before it turns into a catastrophe, you know...PROACTIVE EFFORTS and the impacts as it progresses over years, decades, the locals that live there, the near-by city dwellers that play there? If we can already display responsible stewardship and land usage between man and nature in all of the land the already surrounds these two major Canadian icons. the protected landscape spans beyond the two well known natural preservation boundaries of the national park.

A series of city parks are strung together by a trail network that triple as green spaces for residents to unwind and be active, a place for critters to live freely and away from harm in the city streets and a place for rin water to gather away from flat residential areas to prevent flooding during flash rains. Everything in our city is designed to flow to one of these areas that were already wetlands and areas prone to flooding due to a past incident in Edmonton's history.

A few years back, there was a citizen survey or vote about turning Edmonton's River Valley's green belt and trail network as a potential UNESCO site and protected under Canadian Care rather than city managed to reduce the burden on the city on funding issues in our current tough financial times. I voted NO if I could have voted A hard no and a fuck no too, I would have. This is why. It does deserve the status and it is a unique forest in the middle of the city where wildlife can seek refuge from our busy human streets and I think that's pretty impressive and an important feature of our city. A place to share with nature, in the middle of the 6th largest metropolis in Canada, escaping the urban jungle within our own city streets. Would have been nice in a sense but seeing how they have managed Jasper and Banff, it was a frightening thought. Control under Albertans is THE ONLY option for the sake of our heritage and innovation as Albertans. So should the other sites, especially those with significant incidents or a high number. If this was work and the government was a contractor, they would be fired off-site pretty fast with these constant repeats of negligence and it's results. Never learning... Never progressing...Only pretending with a fancy speech and a photo-op.

This was the first banking building in Jasper, not the same company operates it as the original. Much of the historical structures in the town of Jasper had been made of stone being an over abundant material and a great usage of a by-product from overburden during the construction of the roads and railways along with being resilient to time and fire. Just gorgeous.

More on this house in my next post, perhaps I'll get more into the history and museum later, this is getting long and it will make it twice as long if I make it all one. Just a brief explanation, this is the visitor center for the town and is surrounded by a park/green space for both humans and elk populations to enjoy. Yes, they can be seen here often.

I wanted to put more trains like I promised but I better save some for where I actually talk about the train history...OOPS! I knew this post would turn into more than one. I knew just covering what led to the fire and what's at stake along with moving forward into the future, using this event and others like these as a learning opportunity. We have this hazard/incident pyramid thing at work. We all laugh at it and roll our eyes every time they take it out at orientation but shouldn't because we all know it to be true. Each near miss increases the risk of escalation to a new category until the very top aka a loss of life incident. I know we are not talking chemicals and falling tools incidents but the same principles should be employed here.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Incident-Pyramid-after-Henderson-2016_fig1_325608164

a website for the type of situation controls awareness using the same pyramid structure for a visual, no need for another sample image to avoid redundancy:
https://www.chemscape.com/blog/hierarchy-controls-workplace-safety-chemical-hazards

Alright, peace out gang and stay safe. xox